[Mb-hair] Fw: Article re The Draft

[Little Birdie]

Richard wrote:

>Hair is absolutely relevant\
>it just has to be updated
>as it always was
>in the places stipulated for such by the authors

Not wanting to start up this age old argument again, but when I see this I 
feel compelled to say that, in my humble opinion, Hair is as relevant today 
as it ever was, without the updating you mention as needed to make it so. My 
experience has been that when a production attempts to update the show it is 
far less successful in getting it's message across, and it makes the rest of 
the show anachronistic in many ways.

The similarities between the late sixties and the current political 
situation are obvious enough that the audience does not need to have them 
spoon fed to them. There is no need to point them out. My daughter (now 13) 
has been seeing Hair since she was about 9, and has always understood, 
without being told, that Hair speaks to her life now. Hair's themes are 
universal, it's messages timeless.

The places stipulated by the authors to be updated were for during the 
original run, when the attempt was made to keep the show current - the 
Vietnam War was still going on when Hair closed on BRoadway, and Hair was 
meant to take place in the now. When the show was revived in 1977 many of 
the reviews mentioned that the attempts to update it to then as one of the 
difficulties in that production.

But to each their own!

Nina

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